Typewriter word counter



p 1942. E. A. WALSH 2,297,180

TYPEWRITER WORD COUNTER Filed July 21, 1941 w ldwaidll, Waz kmm 62 BY W ym,

ATTORNEY; 57

Patented Sept. 29, 1942 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE- TYPEWRITER WORD COUNTER Edward Arthur Walsh, Jamestown, N. Y. Application July 21, 1941, Serial No. 403,408

2 Claims.

This invention relates to a typewriter word counter and has for an object to provide simplified apparatus for registering a number by the depression of a key that forms the first letter of any word.

A further object is to provide apparatus of this character in which depressing the hyphen key on the typewriter at the end of a. line will prevent the hyphenated word being counted as two words.

A further object is to provide apparatus of this type in which the register will be cocked by return movement of the carriage to line starting position, or by depressing the spacer bar.

A further object is to provide apparatus of this character in which no count will be efiected by the depressing of any key which is not preceded by the cocking of the register.

A further object is to provide apparatus of this character which will be formed of a, few strong, simple and durable parts, which will be inexpensive to manufacture, and which will not easily get out of order.

With the above and other objects in view the invention consists of certain novel details of construction and combinations of parts hereinafter fully described and claimed, it being understood that various modifications may be resorted to within the scope of the appended claims without departing from the spirit or sacrificing any of the advantages of the invention.

In the accompanying drawing forming a part of this specification:

Figure 1 is a top plan view of a typewriter word counter, constructed in accordance with the invention applied to conventional parts of a typewriter.

Figure 2 is a vertical cross sectional view taken on the line 2-2 of Figure 1 looking in the direction of the arrows, showing the key operated counting link in normal idle position.

Figure 3 is a view similar to Figure 2 but showing the key operated counting link in position to count a number.

Figure 4 is a longitudinal vertical sectional view taken on the line 4-4 of Figure 1 looking in the direction of the arrows.

Figure 5 is a detail perspective view of the carriage operated ratchet.

Referring now to the drawing in which like characters of reference designate similar parts in the various views, certain parts of a conventional typewriter are illustrated, and for attaching a conventional register I0, of the ratchet type, to

the front bar H and side bar l2 of the typewriter key board, a. pair of angle brackets l3 and I4, carried by the register, see Figure 1, are bolted, as shown at l5 and it to the front and side bars respectively.

A main shaft 11 is mounted in bearings [8 on the bracket I4 and is provided with a crank arm l9 which is connected by 'a link 20 to a ratchet designated in general by the numeral 2|, and later described, which is actuated by a projection 22 on a portion 23 of the platen carriage during rectilinear movement of the carriage to begin a new line of typing.

Thus the main shaft l1. will be rocked each time the carriage is returned to starting position, to cock the register, that is, set the register in potential counting position as will be presently described. The spacer bar 24, also cocks the register, according to the invention, andis provided with a depending lug 38 for this purpose, as will presently appear.

To count a word each time the key that forms the first letter of any word is depressed, the conventional rock shaft 25, or equivalent member, which is part of the mechanism motivated by the depressing of any key, is provided with a crank arm 26. A link 21 is connected at one end to the crank arm and at the opposite end is connected to an angular lever 28, see Figure 2, one leg of which is provided with a longitudinal slot 29 to permit the link to move freely therein. The other leg of the angular lever is provided with a clamp 30, and with a clamp bolt 3i which secures the lever to the operating shaft 32 of the register Ill.

The free end of the angular lever is rocked back by forward movement of the link 21 when the first key is depressed after the register is cocked, to actuate the register to count a number, and the link will move from the position shown in Figure 3 to the position shown in Figure 2 during the counting operation, the position of the parts shown in Figure 3 being the cocked position of the parts as effected by return movement of the carriage, and by depressing the spacer bar. Depressing succeeding keys alter the first letter of the word is typed will not actuate the register to count a word until the register has been cooked by return of the carriage to start a new line, or by depressing the spacer bar, since the end of the link 21 travels freely in the slot 29 with every depressing of a key which is not preceded by the cocking of the angular lever 28, that is, the rocking downward of the lever to the position shown in Figure 3 by operation of the spacer bar or the return movement of the carriage.

Cooking of the register by the spacer bar and by backward movement of the carriage, is effected by a single Y-shape lever 33. The lever has a long curved leg 34 and a short straight leg 35. The shank 39 of the Y-shape lever, see Figure 2, is secured to the angular lever 28 by the clamp bolt 3|. A crank 36 on the main shaft I! has a pin 31 which normally over'ies the long leg 34. The ,pin depresses the Y-shape lever when the chank arm 36 is rocked down and cocks the register. The above mentioned depending lug 38 of the spacer bar, see Figures 1 and 4, overlies the sho t leg 35 of the Y-shape lever. When the spacer is depressed, the depending lug 38 will rock the Y-shape lever to cock the register.

The exception to the main shaft cocking the register each time the carriage is returned to start a new line, is in the event the hyphen key 40 is depressed at the end of a typed line to hyphenate a word which will end at the beginning of the next succeeding line. In this event, the rock shaft must be restrained from cocking the register and to accomplish this, there is provided a rock shaft 4!, see Figure 1, which is journalled at one end in the front frame bar H and at the rear end in a stationary bar 42 of the typewriter. An angular crank arm 43 is secured at one end to the shaft 4! by a set screw 44, in the present embodiment of the invention, and the free end 45 of the crank arm underlies the hyphen key. Each time the key is depressed the shaft 41 will be rocked and when the key is released, the shaft will be returned to normal position by a spring 46 which is sleeved on the shaft and is connected at one end to the shaft and at the other end of the bar 62.

Rocking of the shaft ii is utilized to pull the pin 3?! of the crank arm 55 laterally away from the long curved leg 36} of the Y-shaped lever 33. For this purpose a wire (it is connected at one end to a crank arm 68 which is secured by a set screw 45 to the shaft M. The other end of the wire is provided with a loop 56 which embraces the main shaft ill in rear of a button ti on the end of the shaft. Consequently when the shaft 46 is rocked by depressing the hyphen key 569 at the end of a line to hyphenate a word, the wire ll will engage the button i and pull the main shaft endwise through the bearings 58 to carry the pin 37 of the crank arm 35 away from the curved leg 35 of the Y-shaped lever. As a result, when the shaft i? is turned by movement of the carriage back to starting position, the crank arm 35 cannot disturb the position of the Y-shaped lever 33 and the register will not be cooked. The next time the spacer 2 is depressed to cock the register after the hyphenated word is completed, the shaft it will be returned to operative position as will now be described.

A cam arm 52, see Figure 4, is formed integral with the same bar 55 to which the depending lug 3c is attached. Screws 54 secure the bar 53 to the underneath face of the spacer bar 24 at the end of the bar. The cam arm 52 is provided with an obliquely disposed extension 55 which normally is spaced from the button 5!, but when the button 5| is pulled by the wire 41 to move the main shaft ll endwise the cam extension 55 will engage the button. When the spacer bar 24 is now depressed, the cam extension 55 will have wiping engagement with the button and force the button rearwardly to move the main shaft endwise so that the pin 31 again overlies the long curved arm 34 of the Y- shaped lever 33 at the same time the register is being cocked by the depending lug of the spacer bar as the spacer bar is depressed. Consequently, the main shaft I1 will be in operative position to cock the register when the carriage is next returned to line starting position.

The ratchet 2| heretofon referred to comprises an arm 56 which is connected to the link and which is relatively long and is also provided on one longitudinal edge with a lug 51. A short arm 58 is disposed transversely across the end of the arm 58. Both the arms are pivotally secured to a stationary frame member 59 of the typewriter through the medium of a pivot pin 60. The

short arm is provided with. a finger 6! which projects into the path of the projection 22 on the portion 23 of the platen carriage and is also provided with an upstanding lug B2. A helical spring 63 is connected to the lug 51 of the arm 56 and to the lug 62 of the arm 58. The finger BI is provided with an inclined cam edge 54 and with a rear abutment edge 65. When the carriage is being returned to its starting position at the end of a line, the projection 22 will impinge against the abutment edge 55 of the arm 58, and since the arm engages the lug 5'! of the arm 56, see Figure 5, the arm 55 will be rocked to pull on the link 20 and rock the main shaft I1. At the end of the line the projection 23 rides upon the cam edge 64 of the arm 58 and rocks the arm against the pressure of the spring 53 so that the projection 22 rides off over the cam edge 54, without disturbing the position of the arm 55, into position in rear of the abutment edge of the arm ready for the next operation.

Since the operation of the device has been described as the best description of the parts progressed, it is thought the invention will be fully understood without further explanation.

What is claimed is:

1. In a typewriter having a carriage, a spacer bar, typing keys, a hyphen key and a word count ing register, a lever for cocking the register hav ing a branched free end, a projection on the spec-: ing bar engageable with one branch of the lever to cook the register, a rotatable and shiftable main shaft rocked by the carriage during return movement to beginning of line position having a crank arm engageable with the other branch of the lever to cook the register, means for registering a number actuated by the first key depressed after the register is cooked, a pull rod means actuated by the hyphen key at the end of a typed line to shift the main shaft endwise and move the crank arm to inoperative position with relation to said lever, and cam means on the spacer bar for shifting the main shaft back to normal position to reset the crank arm.

2. In a typewriter having a carriage, a spacer bar, typing keys, a hyphen key and a word counting register, an angular lever connected to the register having the dual function of cooking and actuating the register, there being a slot in one leg of the angular lever, a Y-shaped lever connected to the angular lever for cocking the register, a link having one end loosely engaged in said slot and connected at the other end to a part of the typewriter adapted to move the link forwardly when any key is depressed, said link moving the angular lever to actuate the register when the first key is depressed after the register is cooked, said link moving freely in said slot when succeeding keys are depressed and not effecting the register, means on the spacer bar engageable with one branch of the Y-shaped lever to cock the register, means operated by return movement of the carriage to beginning of line position engageable with the other branch of the Y-shaped lever to cook the register, means actuated by depressing the hyphen key at the end of a typed line to dispose the second named means in inoperative position, and means actuated by the spacer bar to reset the second named means.

EDWARD A. WALSH. 

